bernstein, msnbc contributor and former chief economist and economic policy adviser to vice president joe biden. that's just some of the details as you so well know here but let's remind ourselves, though, of this word that we have been using. that was termed by mr. bernanke. he called it a cliff. but really -- >> right. >> it is like falling down stairs, isn't it? >> right. more so a staircase or a slope in the sense that some of the damage you just described actually takes a while to arrive and if congress is able to quickly reverse the cliff dive, it could be more and i have heard folks use this, more of a bungee yump to get back up to the cliff. >> at the end of the day, right. >> the tax increases you noticed, these are tax increase that is are fazed in over the course of 2013. so it's not until april 2014 when you're filling out the tax bill for the prior year that you would be looking at some of the increases you just described. now, a couple of nuances, though. the payroll tax cut that's been in effect, the 2% on your paycheck of a payroll tax break, that does go away right away. and pe